Basketball in 2007

Professional

In June 2007 the San Antonio Spurs—featuring players from the U.S. Virgin Islands (Tim Duncan), France (Tony Parker), The Netherlands (Francisco Elson), Slovenia (Beno Udrih), and Argentina (Manu Ginobli and Fabricio Oberto)—swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four straight games in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA’s) best-of-seven championship series. The sweep was the first in the NBA Finals since 2001–02, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets.

Parker, the Spurs’ point guard in his sixth season, became the first European to be named the Finals’ Most Valuable Player (MVP), having averaged 24.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. Parker’s award followed that of Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, a German who became the first European to be named the regular-season MVP.

In the process of completely overmatching the Cavaliers, the Spurs won their fourth title in nine seasons, becoming just the fifth team in league history to have earned that many in a similar period of time. Spurs forward Robert Horry won his seventh ring and became only the second player to have won with three different teams. (John Salley was the first, winning with the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Chicago Bulls.) Horry won in 2005 with the Spurs and previously with the Houston Rockets and the Lakers. This was also the fourth championship for Gregg Popovich, Spurs coach for 11 years.

The common denominator on the court for San Antonio’s four titles was Duncan, the 2.13-m (7-ft) centre-forward who was the MVP the first three times the Spurs won. Despite shooting an uncharacteristically low 37.3%, Duncan averaged 18.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.25 blocks in the 2007 finals. With his team champions once again, he said, “It never gets old. It never gets old.’’

Overall, the 2007 series lacked aesthetic value, with the Spurs and Cavaliers combining to average just 83.5 points per game. The Spurs, though, displayed a fierce will at the defensive end, with veteran guard Bruce Bowen the key force in minimizing the effect of Cavaliers star 22-year-old LeBron James, who, coming directly from high school, was the number one overall pick in the 2003 draft. James averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.8 assists but shot a weak 35.6% from the floor. In his best effort, he was 10-for-30 in game four, which was won 83–82 by the Spurs. The Spurs did not allow any other Cavaliers to take charge in the series, either; James’s teammates shot a combined 41.1% from the floor and hit just 18 of 57 three-point attempts. The Cavaliers were hampered by the loss of starting guard Larry Hughes, who was unable to play after game two, having suffered from a torn plantar fascia in his left foot.

College

Florida was nobody’s national championship choice when the 2005–06 college basketball season began, but at the start of the 2006–07 season, the Gators were just about everybody’s choice to repeat. Within a few months, Florida had gone from a roster of unheralded players to one with the most recognizable faces in the sport. In the previous 34 years, only one team, Duke (1991, 1992), had successfully defended its National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. In an era when few ultrasuccessful underclassmen could resist the call of the National Basketball Association (NBA), few of the championship teams stayed together long enough to try again. Florida was different, and the entire starting lineup decided that attempting to win another NCAA championship, regardless of the expectations, was more important than the money and glory of the NBA.

At the 2007 Final Four in Atlanta, Florida’s first game was against UCLA, the same team it had beaten for the 2006 championship. Florida again dominated in every way, this time winning by 76–66. In the championship matchup on April 2, Florida was the team with the veterans: Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Taurean Green, and Lee Humphrey. Its opponent, Ohio State, had the two brilliant freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley. The pair, who had been high-school teammates in Indianapolis, played well enough in the final game, but they were up against superior forces, and Florida prevailed 84–75. A few days after the championship, with coach Billy Donovan at their sides, Brewer, Noah, Horford, and Green (all juniors) announced that this time they would be going to the NBA. Many basketball fans thought that the players’ unselfish style of play and their having previously passed on the NBA when that would have been an easy, understandable decision might be their greatest legacy.

In women’s NCAA action, Tennessee had been the dominant program for years, with six national titles. When the Lady Vols arrived in Cleveland for the 2007 Final Four tournament, however, almost a decade had passed since the team’s sixth title. Playing against a Rutgers team that nobody could have predicted would be in the championship game, Tennessee won its seventh national title by playing such superb defense that Rutgers never really had a chance. Tennessee’s star, 1.93-m (6-ft 4-in) Candace Parker, scored 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in the Lady Vols’ 59–46 final victory and was named the tournament MVP. The title gave Tennessee’s Pat Summitt her seventh as a head coach. Summitt’s career record of 947–180 was the best of any coach—man or woman—in college basketball history.

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